The Philippines are divided into provinces (P), and districts (D), each of which is administered by an alcalde of the 1st (A1), 2nd (A2), or 3rd class (A3) (de termino, de ascenso, de entrada); by a political and military governor (G), or by a commandant (C).

Extract from a letter of the alcalde to the captain-general, June 20, '60:"For ten days past ten pirate vessels have been lying undisturbed at the island of San Miguel, two leagues from Tabaco, and interrupt the communication with the island of Catanduanes and the eastern part of Albay.

The next morning I accompanied the alcalde in a falua (felucca), manned by fourteen rowers, to Casiguran, which lies directly south of Sorsogon, on the other side of a small bay, of two leagues in breadth, which it took us an hour and a half to cross.

"He is here even now, with that pompous fool the American alcalde from Monterey, a wretch who knows nothing of the country or the people, but who helped the other American to claim me.

Arenas considered this tribute paid by the alcaldes as a fine imposed upon them for an infringement of the law; "for several ordinances were in existence, strenuously forbidding them to dabble in any kind of commerce, until it pleased his Catholic Majesty to grant them a dispensation."

FIGURE Indian Alcaldes at Santa Rosa FIGURE Native Druggists in the Plaza of Sicuani To be sure, the female vendors of eggs, potatoes, peppers, and sundry native vegetables, squatting in two long rows on the plaza, did not enjoy being photographed, but the men and boys crowded eagerly forward, very much interested in my endeavors.

Early in the morning I rode on the priest's horse to Legaspi, and in the evening through deep mud to the alcalde at Albay.

The cabildo was in a state of extreme dilapidation, and we called on the first alcalde for better accommodations.